Protective pads are useful for protecting a wearer's body parts from injury. Most commonly, protective pads are made to include an outer shell that is hard and an inner shell that is soft. Such protective pads are typically strapped to a desired degree of tightness around the part requiring protection, e.g., a wearer's elbow, knee, shin, etc. Accordingly, the interior of the protective pad is usually cup-shaped so as to comfortably receive the body part requiring protection.
However, although such a protective pad of the type described above may effectively protect the wearer from injury due to extraneous objects, the pads themselves present a risk of injuring other players. This is particularly true in the case of elbow pads, which are commonly raised to face level during close interactions amongst hockey players.
There is therefore a need in the industry for an improved method of manufacturing protective pads having an outer surface that possess shock absorbing qualities.